Thick Smoke

Hogsmeade

The break passed and Remus Lupin was more annoyed and worried than ever. The reason was his goddaughter whose father escaped Azkaban and was hiding from prison guards called Dementors. However tat didn't seem like an issue to have father-daughter bonding time. Eliza was going out at night, Merlin knows where, and come back in time for breakfast. Afterwards, she would lock herself in her room and practice spells all day long.

When it was time to go back to Hogwarts, she grabbed Furvus and waited for her godfather to apparate with him instead of using the train. She wasn't sure why Remus had to be there so fast but she was happy that she wasn't going to listen to people ramble on and on about Sirius anymore.

"Are you going to tell me where you went every night or should I use the Truth Serum?"

He wasn't going to do that but he wanted her to trust him enough and tell him the truth on her own.

Eliza's green eyes scanned Remus' face, noticing every trace of stress he gained over the years.

"You should look for a girlfriend," She mumbled, his eyes widening at her statement.

"W-what?!" He screamed, perplexing the first years that were just coming in. He coughed and pushed her to the side. "Who gave you this idea?"

Eliza smiled innocently and blinked just like Furvus when he messed up the kitchen and played with the thrash. If he didn't know who he raised for the past years, he would have sworn he was in front of Ophelia when she first admitted she liked Sirius.

"Who have you met for the past week, Eliza?" He asked again even if he knew already.

"Wouldn't you like to know," She chuckled already giving Remus the answer with that mischievous glint in her eyes.

Outside was still snowing when the next break to Hogsmeade came around. Unlike the last time, Eliza asked Remus to sign her pass and go buy presents for Christmas. Unfortunately, that left Harry alone.

On the other side, Seamus and Dean where more than happy when she walked down the stairs that morning, dressed for going out in the cold. Since they knew better where to visit and what to buy, they led her to their favorite places.

Now, truthfully, Eliza had never been to Hogsmeade before, only got the chance to hear about it from Remus' stories at Hogwarts and the pictures of her mother and her friends in local shops. That was probably the sole reason why she let herself dragged by the boys inside Honeydukes even if she wasn't a big fan of sweets.

"You should try that! Or this! Merlin, this is heaven!" Seamus exclaimed, a boyish grin appearing on his face.

Eliza swore she saw his eyes sparkle at the sight of chocolate cauldrons and pushed him that way.

While she was going around, wandering the sweet store, she noticed the clerk looking at her very closely. At first, she thought he was looking at someone behind her so she glanced over her shoulder but he was definitely staring at her.

Feeling uncomfortable, she paid for a bag of liquorice wands and left the shop, sneaking out right past Neville. The coldness hit her in the face hard, making her pull her red muffler closer to her face. She shuddered and walked by herself, looking for presents.

In her whole life, she had never seen herself in the posture of having to spend money for someone else except Remus so it was very complicated. Eliza had no idea what her friends liked because she never paid attention. Besides, Christmas passed and she didn't give anything to anyone.

Actually, she got some Christmas cards from Gryffindors and everything but really, her best gift was spending time with Sirius.

She went around in circles and ended up in Tomes and Scrolls. The bell rung in that familiar high pitched sound, alarming whoever was inside that a new customer crossed their threshold. She was quite short and sneaked inside like she was doing something bad instead of looking for a present. The shelves were old and dusty but the old books were only making her feel like she was back home searching for something interesting to read.